Meryl Streep donates $1M to The Public Theatre

FILE - This Aug. 6, 2012 file photo originally released by Starpix show actress Meryl Streep at the premiere of the Columbia Pictures film "Hope Springs," at the SVA Theatre in New York. Streep has donated $1 million to The Public Theater in honor of both its late founder, Joseph Pap, and her friend, the author Nora Ephron. The announcement was timed to Thursday's unveiling of the nonprofit's $40 million face-lift to its 158-year-old headquarters in Astor Place. (AP Photo/Starpix, Dave Allocca)

NEW YORK (AP) — Meryl Streep has donated $1 million to The Public Theater in honor of both its late founder, Joseph Papp, and her friend, the author Nora Ephron.

The announcement was timed to Thursday's unveiling of the nonprofit's $40 million face-lift to its 158-year-old headquarters in Astor Place.

Streep has performed for the Public for decades, starting in 1975 and including "Henry V" in 1976 and "Mother Courage and Her Children" in 2006. This summer, she played Juliet opposite Kevin Kline as Romeo in a benefit reading of "Romeo and Juliet" in Central Park.

Ephron, who died in June, directed Streep in her portrayal of chef Julia Child in 2009's "Julie & Julia." And Streep played a version of Ephron herself in 1986's "Heartburn."